Tech sure has progressed by leaps and bounds. I think I had a cell phone around 2002 or so but it was a very primitive grey Motorola flip phone with green digital numbers. I had a dummy terminal connected to a mainframe and an ancient Mac on my desk for desktop publishing.
I do agree that tech and social media have ushered in a new level of f*ckery. It gives those in power so many more ways to manipulate the masses. If you haven't seen them already these two docs highlight some ways in which it's happening...
https://www.netflix.com/title/80117542
https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
We're about to enter an even more frightening world with the advent of A.I. and more sophisticated deep fakes.